Ramsey was immediately lauded as a hero, and thousands of people took to Twitter to urge McDonald's(MCD) to take action.

"Free burgers for life!" one man tweeted. "It was the best advert you could get -- Heroes eat Big Macs," another wrote." Other called for him to star in a commercial and become the next Ronald McDonald.

But court documents detailing Ramsey's run-ins with the law surfaced after McDonald's sent its tweet on Tuesday. Ramsey has been convicted in the past on charges of domestic violence, burglary and drug abuse, and he served time in jail. His last run-in with the law was in 2003.

Ramsey told CNN he didn't want to comment.

When contacted on Thursday with the findings, Proud said that McDonald's had not changed its stance. The company and local franchisees will be reaching out to him directly as McDonald's said it would.